Wall Street News

Top StoriesDollar rises above ¥100, Nikkei Soars. For the first time since April of 2009, the yen (FXY) fell through the 100-level against the dollar, helping the Nikkei rally nearly 3% on the session and almost 7% on the week. Japanese equities (EWJ)
are now trading at levels last seen in January of 2008. Japanese
capital flows data finally showed what many had been waiting for since
BOJ Governor Kuroda's shot across the bow at deflation: an outflow, as
Japanese investors became net buyers of foreign bonds.

Icahn, Southeastern to bid for Dell. Carl Icahn is partnering with Southeastern Asset to make an alternative bid to acquire Dell (DELL).
Icahn and Southeastern will offer shareholders $12/share that can be
taken in cash or stock, to go with the option to maintain additional
shares in a recapitalized Dell. In a letter to Dell's board,
Icahn/Southeastern effectively threaten to go to the courts if investors
don't get a chance to vote on their offer. "Either give shareholders
the real choice they are entitled to or face the legal liability for
your failures."

Top Stock NewsArcelorMittal posts loss, but results improve from Q4. ArcelorMittal (MT)
posted a net loss of $345M or -$0.21 per share for Q1 on revenue of
$19.752B, and while both figures were worse than Q1 2012, the results
were an improvement over the previous quarter. CEO Lakshmi Mittal said
the economic environment "remains challenging," but sounded upbeat about
the company's performance in the face of a soft market. The world's
largest steel maker said EBITDA (which, like the profit and revenue
picture, improved slightly from Q4), should continue to improve
sequentially and will likely come in above $7.1B for the full year.

Nissan benefits from weaker yen, but U.S. results lag. A weak yen helped Nissan (NSANY.OB)
report a FY13 net profit of ¥342.45B, ahead of estimates and in line
with guidance. FQ4 net profit was ¥110.06 on revenue of ¥2.874T. Results
lagged those of competitors Toyota (TM) and Honda (HMC).
The company called its results in the United States a "big
disappointment" as FY13 North American operating profit fell 15.6% Y/Y
to ¥177.3B. Going forward, the automaker forecast FY14 net profit,
operating profit, and revenue of ¥420B, ¥610B, and ¥10.37T respectively.

Molycorp beats expectations. Molycorp (MCP)
reported a Q1 non-GAAP loss that was far narrower than anticipated
Thursday on higher than expected revenue. Adjusted EPS came in at -$0.15
per share, less than half of the $0.31 per share loss analysts surveyed
by FactSet called for. Sales rose 9% sequentially and the company said
the "ongoing production ramp-up at Mountain Pass remains on course
[with] full-scale" commercial production (an annual run rate of 20,000
metric tons) expected by mid year. The shares rose 8.77% AH.

Panasonic posts loss, sees FY14 profit. Panasonic (PCRFY.OB)
reported a net loss of ¥754.3B for the year ended March, narrower than
2012's loss, but slightly wider than analysts expected. Operating profit
tripled however, to ¥160.94B, beating estimates. The company said it
will swing to a ¥50B profit in FY14 as President Kazuhiro Tsuga attempts
to make good on a promise to shutter unprofitable business lines and
restore growth. The plunging yen won't hurt.

Nvidia tops estimates. Nvidia (NVDA)
earned $0.13 per share on revenue of $954.7M for FQ1, beating consensus
estimates as the company's gross margin expanded 140 basis points from
last quarter and 420 basis points Y/Y to 54.3% (analysts expected 53%).
The results showed high-end computer buyers "are still willing to spend
more for NVDA's newest processors," a Wedbush analyst told Bloomberg.
The company said FQ2 revenue should come in at $975M give or take,
against expectations of $1.01B. Shares traded higher by 1% after the report.

Top Economic & Other NewsCalifornia AG files suit against JPMorgan. According to California AG Kamala Harris, JPMorgan (JPM)
effectively hijacked the state's judicial system, filing thousands of
lawsuits (which allegedly had "only the thinnest veneer of legitimacy")
per month for more than three years in order to procure default
judgements and extract payments from borrowers. Harris says that on one
particularly busy day, JPM filed 469 suits. The bank had no comment.

Margin debt hits pre-crisis levels.
NYSE margin debt hit $379.5B in March, a 28% Y/Y increase as investors
borrow money to buy into what has become a famously resilient rally. The
concern is that a steep sell-off could snowball if leveraged investors
are forced to unwind positions to meet margin calls. Borrowing to buy
shares is of course one sign of unbridled optimism, although some
believe levering up makes sense in the current environment. The last
time margin debt hit $380B: July 2007, the same month S&P and
Moody's marked the beginning of the crisis by downgrading hundreds of
RMBS.

Eisman says Canada's housing market in trouble.
Steve Eisman thinks the Canadian housing market may be heading for
trouble and warned listeners at the Ira Sohn conference Wednesday that
Toronto-listed, non-prime mortgage originator Home Capital Group will
"have serious problems" in the event the Canadian housing market rolls
over. Home prices, which have doubled in Canada over the past decade,
are beginning to falter and Canadians, undeterred by cautious rhetoric,
are continuing to lever up, with debt to disposable income ratios on the
rise. David Rosenberg — no stranger to gloomy predictions — says talk
of a collapse is "completely overhyped."

Moody's doesn't see corporate bond bubble.
Don't panic, Moody's said in a report Friday, there's "no strong
evidence that recent [corporate debt] issuance levels presage a damaging
correction." The notion that a bubble is building in the corporate bond
market isn't reflected in credit spreads which, for both investment
grade (LQD) and high yield (HYG, JNK),
are closer to long-run averages than they are to alarmingly tight.
Furthermore, the ratings agency said a surge in issuance reflects the
"disintermediation of the banking sector" and noted that the proportion
of total corporate liabilities comprised of debt securities "hasn't
significantly increased over the past two years." We can all rest easy
now.